


Fluid Dynamics (Rough Draft) (EAD)

by WaterSoter



Series: WaterSoter's 2018 Evil Author Day, [3]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sentinels and Guides Are Known, Canon-Typical Violence, Disturbing Themes, Domestic Violence, EAD, Evil Author Day, Evil Author Day 2018, F/M, FemAntonia "Toni" DiNozzo, Genderbending, Genderswap, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Murder, Kidnapping, Minor Character Death, Murder, No Beta, WIP, dark themes, implied/referenced other trigger topics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 06:39:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13698966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaterSoter/pseuds/WaterSoter
Summary: Toni thought everything was finally settling down in her life after Baltimore; but then Kate joined the team, a series of mysterious deaths kept propping up on their radar and she kept getting a strange vibe from Gibbs. Jethro/Toni. Sentinel/Guide AU.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> When I was rewatching the first season of NCIS I had a thought about how Tony and Gibbs dynamic seemed to change when Gibbs brought in Kate and how that affected Tony. Then I went, what if Tony was always a girl Toni and then I thought, what if Toni and Gibbs were unverified Sentinel/Guide pairing and voila, here we go. This story is a fusion with the Sentinel and uses the concept of sentinels/guides. It's het Tibbs with always female Toni DiNozzo. Takes places after Yankee White and goes somewhat Canon AU from there.

Art by WaterSoter

*O*O*O*

There was something, something, something somewhere and somewhere that was around and around was a place that no one had been or would be at today, tomorrow, yesterday or the day before that. It was a confusing place to be at if there was someone there or would be there but wasn’t there, not yet but would be, might be, if there was something there to be at there for. The place, the person, the thing together and not at the same time. 

It was hard to wrap his brain around that. But maybe he wasn’t really wrapping his brain around it because there was nothing to wrap his brain around. There was, he knew that, or did, once, before now, before, before before. 

The world tilted, street lights shiny, shiny and oh so pretty. He needed to sit down to see them clearer, clearly, better. People hit him and he sat down, went down, sat down really hard. His teeth rattled, shook, smashed together and his brain did a funny little dance inside his head, outside his head, above his head. Somewhere. 

It was pretty. Maybe. Maybe pretty but dark too. Dark, dark, dark. Legs, lots of legs. Loads of legs. Moving. Swish, swish, swish. Rubbing against pants, against nothing, legs, two, long, nice shape. 

The man looked at the legs, they stopped doing the swishy thing. Stopped, stopped, stopped. In front of his face, in front of him. There, there, there. Then legs bent, a face was there. In his face. Face to face. Pretty. Then noise. More noise. 

Pretty eyes. Blue, grey, green. Sky, sea, ocean. Air, water, both. Pretty, pretty. Like jewels. Sparkly. Shiny, shiny, shiny. 

“Pretty,” He said, he spoke, words. Words flew. Like birds in the sky. Out. Of mouth, lips, throat. Out, out, out. 

The woman had nice eyebrows. They went. Up, up, up. Nice. Shape, nice. They were nice. Nice, nice, nice. Pretty lips. She said, “Yeah, buddy. I think you had one too many.”

Pretty lady with pretty hands took things off of him. He leaned on pretty lady. Soft, soft, soft. She was soft, like clouds. He felt nice. Nice on the inside. Like Mary. Pretty Mary of gold hair. Eyes like a storm. Mary that said he was nice too. He could be nice, nice, nice. Like her. Nice on the inside. 

“Feel nice,” He said. Through lips. Mouth. Mouth moving. 

Pretty lady smiled. Warm. Safe. Warm. Safe. Warm. Safe. “Okay buddy. How about we call you a cab so you can go home and sleep it off.”

He shook head. Head, head, head that wanted to float. Like a ballon. Away from him. Didn’t want that. Wanted it to stay. Wanted to stay. 

Pretty lady took stuff from him. Wallet. His wallet. Old, pop’s. Gift. He really wanted to stay. He really wanted to sleep. Pretty Mary of gold hair said no. He wanted to. 

“Home?” Home, home, home. Bed. He liked bed. Bed soft _and_ nice. Feel soft. Nice, like lady with eyes of sky, ocean, sea. 

“Yeah, buddy. Just going to get you a cab and you can go home.” Pretty lady said things but he was tired. Tired, tired, tired. Mary of gold hair said it would help. He wanted to feel and he felt. Felt bad and bad and nice and not so nice. 

“Hey buddy, you okay there?” He was okay, not okay. Felt floaty. Fly, fly okay. Tired. Mary of gold hair promised. Promised, promised, promised. Feel good, feel okay, feel nice. Felt not so good no more. 

“Whoa, hey, hey, open your eyes for me? C’mon pal.” Pretty lady was going away. He was going away. Not felt too nice no more. He wanted nice. He wanted better. Mary of gold hair promised. Better, better, better. “Dammit, c’mon, buddy, don’t conk out on me.”

But he didn’t want to. He didn’t but he wanted to sleep now. Sleep, sleep, sleep. Make better. Make everything better. 

“Son of a . . . this is Agent DiNozzo . . . I need an ambulance . . . unresponsive . . . guide,” Words. Words far away. More noise. People. More people. More, more, more. Voices. Many. Dark. Dark was nice. Dark was good. Dark was safe and away from Mary of gold hair and not real promises. 


	2. Chapter 2

Cover Art by WaterSoter

*O*O*O*

Kate blinked but no, that wasn’t helping either. She entered the NCIS bullpen, the first time she was really taking everything in and not just preparing to duke it out for her case. It very spacious. Everything arranged in neatly spaced out cubicles. Desks done in a similar, organized manner. Orderly. Not at all what she would have expected after the deranged manner Gibbs and his team, if you could call a pair a team, had handled their previous case.   
  
Kate expected, well, she really didn’t know what she expected. Chaotic came to mind. But it was still early, only a few agents scattered here and there. Soon the entire compliment of the agency would be there and then she’ll get to see the real NCIS at work.   
  
She walked over to Gibbs’ section. A wider space with four desks facing each other and two more tucked away at each end. She didn’t spot either Gibbs or DiNozzo. Probably for the best since she wanted to have a moment to take everything in.   
  
Unfortunately it meant taking _everything_ in.   
  
Like the color, orange, everywhere. Even when she turned one way or another, she couldn’t escape. It was just so prominent even with the brief splashes of beige here and there. It was like being inside a pumpkin. What she _thought_ it would be like to work inside a pumpkin.   
  
“Don’t these people have eyes?” She muttered as she made her way to one of the desks. She’d get used to it, eventually.   
  
Maybe.   
  
She grabbed her purse but hesitated in taking the desk. There were two empty ones. One across from Gibbs’ and the other to his right. Gibbs hadn’t mentioned where she would be sitting. Hadn’t said much of anything after offering her the job. Did that mean she had her pick or was this another one of Gibbs’ little tests? It seemed something he would do. Keeping her on her toes just because he could.   
  
 _Must be a sentinel thing,_  Kate thought, even if she had nothing to compare it to. She’d never worked with a sentinel before. In the Secret Service, sentinel/guide teams usually did sweeps and handled the behind the scenes parts of guarding any VIPs. The alpha pairs tended to be assigned to POTUS and VPOTUS since they were so rare. Most unbounded sentinels and guides never made it to the front lines. Something to do with sensory overload or emphatic blowout.   
  
Kate eyed the two empty desks. Ideally, the one opposite Gibbs would be perfect. Ideally. But it was already occupied and she doubted DiNozzo would be willing to give it up.   
  
Great.   
  
There was the one across from Gibbs, but she didn’t like the idea of him keeping such tight taps on her work. Not mention being boxed into a literal corner between Gibbs and DiNozzo, just no. Though the only other choice was not exactly the best, it was still a far better alternative. At least there she would have the elevators at her back instead of a closed off walkway.   
  
With a sigh, she dropped her purse on the desk across from DiNozzo.   
  
She was unpacking when the elevator pinged. Automatically, Kate glanced over in time to see a tall woman step onto the floor. She didn’t look like she belonged in _any_ government agency. Not with a long pencil skirt that made Kate wonder how she even moved in that thing.   
  
White blouse with puffed, short sleeves; black buttons done all the way up, leaving the collar exposed and doing nothing to hide an impressive cleavage. Long hair done in a twist, with a bundle of curls falling to one side. Perfectly formed lips done in a bright red that matched her heels. Heels that no woman should be able to walk in but she did it with ease of long practice.   
  
Curious despite herself, security wouldn’t let just _anyone_ make their way up to the NCIS offices. Especially not since September 11th. The woman carried a backpack over one shoulder - and if that hadn’t required an extensive search she would be looking for a job with the FBI - and an aqua blue crossbody purse in the other. All of them looked expensive and she’d eat her shirt if they weren’t designer.    
  
She was also coming her way.   
  
Kate stood, ready to ask if she needed anything. First day or not, it was a matter of security and she wasn’t some wet-behind the ears rookie that couldn’t handle one woman. Even if she did look like she’d stepped right off some Paris runway or the cover of Vogue.  
  
The woman came right over but instead of heading for Kate’s desk, she veered off toward DiNozzo’s. She tucked away the backpack in a corner and dropped the purse to the side of the keyboard with an air of familiarity. Kate was just about to comment when the woman sat down, legs crossed on top of the desk and smirked at Kate in a way that was becoming too familiar.   
  
“DiNozzo?” Kate said in incredulous tones.   
  
The first time she’d met the woman, DiNozzo had been wearing ratty jeans, a simple t-shirt with some kind of logo under a black windbreaker. Hair pulled back in a simple ponytail and makeup at a minimal.   
  
Nothing in their brief interactions had hinted that DiNozzo knew the right end of nail polish. Much less that she owned anything better than jeans that were coming apart at the seams, and a collection of baggy t-shirts from every college team in the country.   
  
“Hiya, Todd!” DiNozzo said cheerfully. Amusement sparkling in her green eyes. Or where they blue? Kate couldn’t really tell from their distance.   
  
Caught staring, Kate leaned primly onto her desk. DiNozzo was giving her pantsuit a once over and Kate, despite herself, resisted the urge to run hands over her pants to relieve any wrinkling. To straighten her jacket, maybe put on a little gloss. It was hard not to feel underdressed with DiNozzo looking like _that_. And from the sharp grin DiNozzo threw her way, she knew it too.   
  
“Nice duds.” DiNozzo said, grin stretching over perfect white teeth.   
  
Kate grid her teeth and crossed her arms defensively over her chest. Bad move, she thought after the fact. DiNozzo would take it for what it was, and while her pantsuit wasn’t exactly designer, it certainly wasn’t anything picked up from a Walmart.   
  
“It’s called a suit, DiNozzo. You know, professional attire.” DiNozzo’s smirk turned indolent. It reminded Kate of the look her sister’s cat had given Kate after she’d ripped apart Kate’s favorite blouse all those years ago.   
  
“Well, Katie, it depends on what kind of profession you want to emulate.” DiNozzo’s eyes went half-mast. She lifted her arms and crossed them under her head. It made her shirt tightened around generously sized breasts and Kate consider investing in a push-up bra.   
  
Kate tightened her lips against a retort that would make her sound all of three years old. Which was just as well, since Gibbs chose that moment to emerge from the elevator. A supremely large cup of what she assumed was coffee in his hand.   
  
He rounded on them and Kate dropped her hands, making it look like a casual gesture even though she caught DiNozzo’s smirky smirk thrown in her direction. Took one look at Kate’s face, raised his eyebrows at DiNozzo which made DiNozzo wipe the smirk off her face.   
  
Kate couldn’t help a mean smile in return. Which she in turn wiped off _her_ face when Gibbs turned to her. She had to hand it to Gibbs, he certainly had a look that could freeze helium.   
  
“Getting settled in, Agent Todd?” Gibbs took a sip of his coffee as he made his way to his desk. Kate shot DiNozzo a triumphant look before taking her seat. Petty, maybe, childish, definitely but she wasn’t about to go belly up for anyone. Least of all someone who felt the need to dress up, just so she could intimate the newest member of the team. And if Kate went to the ladies room and added a bit more blush and eyeshadow, well, it was certainly was no one else’s business by hers.   
  
DiNozzo got to work, or did something that required her to stare at her computer screen for hours at a time. Gibbs squinted at the mounts of paperwork on his desk.   
  
Since he hadn’t said anything about her choice of desk, Kate unpacked. She set up her voicemail and read through some of the handouts the woman at HR gave her. Ignored the various pieces of paper DiNozzo threw at her. How she flirted with anything with a pulse that passed their section of the bullpen. Or the glances Gibbs threw DiNozzo’s way when DiNozzo wasn’t paying attention.   
  
Kate just worked on getting her paperwork in order. There wasn’t a lot of it. Most of it had already been taken care of. By Gibbs, she assumed. But it was tedious work since everything had to be filled out by hand.   
  
She considered who was going to be her next of kin. At the SS it had been her sister; since she was better at dealing with bad news than her parents. She went with that. The same with emergency numbers and so on.   
  
Kate was so focused that she didn’t hear or see anyone come and go. The elevator rang a lot but that too she was able to tune out. Eventually her stomach let her know that while she’d had a decent breakfast, it wasn’t nearly enough to keep her going all day.   
  
She raised her head, about to ask DiNozzo if she wanted to join her for lunch. Kate may not be a fan, but Kate figured if she was going to be working with DiNozzo, she might as well try to get along. Or an approximation of it. Except that when she looked over, DiNozzo was no longer at her desk. Her purse was missing. She glanced over at Gibbs’ and he was also gone.   
  
 _Great way to start a new job, Todd._ Gibbs would no doubt have something to say about not paying attention to her surroundings. DiNozzo was going to have a field day.   
  
She checked her cel, no messages. Her desk, but there wasn’t anything either, not even a post it mocking Kate about not noticing two people leaving their desks right under her nose. Of course if she had missed Gibbs placing something on her desk, then she really was in trouble.   
  
Checked her watch, startled to discover that it was past noon already. So no company then. Fine. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d eaten alone. For a moment Kate considered calling Abby, but then decided against it. She was a big girl. She could eat lunch by herself.   
  
She checked her cel one last time.   
  
Nothing.   
  
Whatever.   
  
Kate grabbed her purse and made her way out of the building. A lot of foot traffic, uniforms and suits and civvies. The lunch rush. Great. She needed to find somewhere that made a decent salad. After watching DiNozzo’s slim but curvy figure, she didn’t much feel like anything greasy or with too high a calorie count.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter I have written for this story. For those that have read this over at Wild Hare Project, you might want to give it another read, since I edited it some more. Nothing major but I think the flow is much better now. I'm working on updating all these WIPs so look for a new chapter soon. Hopefully. :p


End file.
